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At present, westbound traffic along the detour route is generally moving without significant issues. Traffic control personnel are restricting westbound access at key points along East Broadway and Kingsway to only TransLink buses, which limits the amount of through traffic reaching Main Street. This helps manage movements at the intersection of East 8th Avenue and Main Street, where a temporary traffic signal will soon be activated to better coordinate turning movements for buses and general vehicles using the detour.

Currently, congestion challenges are primarily affecting eastbound traffic, particularly during peak hours and at various times throughout the day. During these periods, based on Daily Hive Urbanized’s observations, traffic can become bumper-to-bumper along East 8th Avenue, beginning at the Main Street intersection and extending onto East Broadway — at times reaching as far west as East Broadway’s intersection with Ontario Street. These conditions have also, at times, resulted in significant bus bunching in a single-file line.

Aerial footage of the traffic congestion at times on the East 8th Avenue detour due to the full closure of the 100 block of East Broadway for the next phase of Mount Pleasant Station’s construction. #TransLink #vancre #vanre #vanpolihttps://t.co/SOyN2XEbaC pic.twitter.com/qISCDgvf0m

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) January 30, 2026

Aerial drone footage captured by advocacy groups Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders and Vision Zero Vancouver earlier this week, soon after the temporary traffic pattern began, further illustrates the extent of eastbound congestion during peak periods.

Movement has suggested the need for improved education for bus drivers using the detour, particularly in learning how to efficiently maneuver through the intersections, along with measures to reduce congestion caused by general vehicle traffic through the area. The public transit advocacy group suggests these measures should include restricting the East 8th Avenue detour to bus-only traffic, with vehicle access only for residents and businesses on the block.

In response to an inquiry, a TransLink spokesperson told Daily Hive Urbanized today that in the early days of the full Broadway closure and the East 8th Avenue detour, travel times on the 99 B-Line and the No. 9 UBC/Commercial bus routes have increased by approximately three to five minutes in both directions.

In practical terms, this means that on the heavily used 99 B-Line — which typically has an end-to-end peak-hour travel time of about 45 minutes under normal conditions — passengers are now experiencing slightly longer commutes during the detour period. The impact is proportionally greater for shorter, partial trips on the 99 B-Line that pass through the affected area.

The public transit authority is advising passengers who rely on these bus routes going through the area to plan for some extra travel time in their commutes.

Upon inquiry, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit also told Daily Hive Urbanized there are currently no plans to make the East 8th Avenue detour a dedicated route for buses only, but they are closely monitoring the traffic conditions.

“Traffic conditions will be closely monitored while the detour is in place, and traffic control measures will be adjusted as needed to support safety and mobility for all road users,” reads the Ministry’s statement.

“The efficient movement of transit serving the corridor is a top priority, along with maintaining access to area businesses, services and residents.”

The East 8th Avenue detour was planned with the involvement of the Ministry, Broadway Subway contractors, TransLink, and the City of Vancouver.

Concrete barriers form the detour’s two traffic lanes along Quebec Street between East Broadway and East 8th Avenue, supplemented by traffic-signal priority, bus queue jumpers, and dual turning lanes for buses and general vehicle traffic. Part of the temporary roadway at the intersection of East Broadway and Quebec Street even cuts through the surface parking lot of a private property at the corner to provide buses with sufficient turning radius to navigate the detour.

During the first few days, a significant on-site personnel presence was in place to help facilitate the transition to the temporary traffic pattern. However, not all bus priority measures — most notably the temporary traffic signals — were fully operational at the start of the road closure and detour early this week.

“This plan has been implemented in order to have the least impact on customers, with minor temporary changes to some bus stop locations. These bus stop reallocations will enable buses to move into travel lanes, making service more reliable,” said the TransLink spokesperson.

The Ministry is also advising drivers travelling to destinations outside of the Mount Pleasant area to use alternate east-west routes, watch for and obey traffic control personnel and signage, and plan for additional travel time. Much of Broadway’s typical arterial traffic between Kingsway and Cambie Street has already been diverted to the alternate parallel arterial routes of 12th Avenue to the south and 2nd Avenue to the north.

All the while, the provincial government is also reminding the public that businesses in the area of the road closure are open and accessible throughout the months-long traffic pattern change, with the pedestrian sidewalks open on East Broadway, and vehicle and delivery access maintained for businesses, residents, and parking lots along the detour route.

Earlier this week, B.C. Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth met with representatives from the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association and a group of local businesses affected by the road closure. Business owners have made pleas for urgent financial assistance from the provincial government, citing the anticipated significant impacts of prolonged traffic disruptions and the possibility that many businesses could be forced to close, with the possibility of steep financial losses over the coming months compounding on the losses already incurred from previous subway construction impacts since 2021.

Farnworth has indicated that he will bring these concerns forward to the provincial cabinet to explore potential mitigation strategies.

In late Spring 2026, after the four-month full closure, the 100 block of Broadway will partially reopen with one lane of traffic flowing in each direction.

This full road closure is being conducted to remove the temporary traffic deck bridge spanning the block above the construction site of the future Mount Pleasant Station on SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension, which is expected to open in Fall 2027. After the traffic deck bridge is removed, work will continue to fully restore the roadway to its permanent new configuration. This marks the subway construction project’s most significant traffic disruption to date.

The provincial government has yet to indicate how the remaining four spans of temporary East Broadway vehicle traffic decks — above the subway station construction sites of Broadway-City Hall (between Cambie and Alberta streets), VGH-Oak (between Oak and Laurel streets), South Granville (between Granville and Hemlock streets), and Arbutus (between Arbutus and Cypress streets) — will be removed. So far, it has not ruled out a similar prolonged full road closure for these remaining locations. More details will be announced at a later date.

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